The Rarest and Most Valuable GameBoy Games

The original Game Boy and brought portable gaming to the masses and now holds a nostalgic place in the hearts of collectors right there with the NES. And while the rarest Gameboy games don’t quite touch the those in the NES library in terms of value, there are some surprising treasures to be found.

In stark contrast to the Cheapest Games series, this Rare & Valuable series will round up the rarest and most valuable games for a given console or handheld so you’ll know what to look for whether you are buying or selling. Below you will see two prices beside each title. The first is the average daily selling price, which is typically the going rate for the game by itself. The second price is the highest price in the past three months which is usually the price for the new/sealed game. The list is ordered by the balance of the two prices. Note that some of these games are not rare in the sense that there are not many available, but rare relative to demand, which makes the games expensive.

Treasured Releases

Trip World – $170 – $1353
Rarity = This gem of a platformer from Sunsoft never saw a release in North America (it was released in Japan and in Europe). This past month saw a loose Japanese copy sell for about $170 while a sealed PAL copy passed the $1300 mark. The game has recently been re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console in Japan and Europe (still noting for North America), but it hasn’t seemed to slow down the enthusiasm for the original Game Boy version.Shop for Trip World on eBay

Amazing Tater – $130 – $800
Rarity =
If there’s one developer that seems to consistantly show up on our Rare and Valuable lists, it is Atlus. They always seem to make cult classics and release them in low numbers. While Amazing Tater might not have what it takes to reach cult classic status, it is one of the hardest to find Game Boy games of all time. This puzzle platformer is a part of the Japanese Puzzle Boy series (and the US releases, Kwirk and Spud’s Aventure), but most non-collectors have never even heard of it.

Spud’s Adventure – $90 – $700
Rarity =
As you might have been able to tell from the titles, Spud’s Adventure is in the same series of puzzlers as Amazing Tater (and also Kwirk). It was released just 8 months before Amazing Tater. Of course, this title is also developed and published by Atlus and saw very low production numbers.Shop for Spud’s Adventure on eBay

Mega Man V: $55 – $500
Rarity =
Even though one might think that the Gameboy games are just monochrome versions of the NES games, the portable versions are actually quite different than their console counterparts. So all those Mega Man fans have to give this one a try if they want to play through the massive series. As you can see from our recent Best Mega Man game poll, Mega Man V is the most popular of the portable installments and it’s also one of the hardest to find. Over the last few years, this title has increased in value about 40%. A loose copy has onlyincreased to just above $50, but complete copies have skyrocketed from $100 to $500 in just a few short years.Shop for Mega Man V on eBayShop for Mega Man V on Amazon.com

Castlevania Legends: $37 – $262
Rarity =
Despite being one of the lowest ranking game on our Best Castlevania Games poll, Castlevania Legends is one of the most collectable installments on a portable platform. It’s quite different than most of the games in the series, and it still has a group of devoted fans.Shop for Castlevania Legends on eBay

Kid Dracula: $34 – $134
Rarity =
Interestingly enough, the next game in our list is actually a spinoff of the Castlevania series. This platformer from Konami is more a comical game, but it actually has characters that have later appeared in Castlevania titles. Because it is both a quirky title, and interesting game, and an offshoot of a very popular series, Kid Dracula has become more and more of a collector’s piece.Shop for Kid Dracula on eBayShop for Kid Dracula on Amazon.com

Mr Do! – $24 – $100
Rarity =
This game may be ones of the less popular games on this list, but it is one of the hardest to track down. Loose catridges will show up here and there, but complete and sealed copies are near impossible to find. If you do find one for a decent price, I would jump on it (especially as the market for boxed Game Boy games heats up) Typically, the cartridge alone and generally runs in the $20-30 range, but even an unsealed, complete copy can break $100.Shop for Mr Do! on eBay

Pokemon Red: $23 – $450 Pokemon Blue: $22 – $305
Rarity =
This is where the Pokemon madness all started. Pokemon Red & Blue are the very first games in the imensly popular RPG series focusing on collecting little creatures for battle. There were millions of copies of these games sold, so we know these cartridges aren’t rare. However, the kids that grew up with these games are now becoming nostolgic adults and these are becoming the gateway drug to Game Boy collecting (much like Mario and Zelda are to NES collectors for the generation before). Cartridges can be found for a bit over $20, but boxed copies are becoming fast sellers and sealed copies go for a few hundred dollar bills. Collecting all the Pokemon games might become an expensive habit.Shop for Pokemon Red on eBayShop for Pokemon Red on Amazon.com

NIV Bible and the 20 Lost Levels of Joshua: $21 – $100
Rarity =
The NES infamously had some Bible-related unlicenced games that made for interesting collectors pieces. The Gameboy also had a cartridge published by The Wisdom Tree. This one let Game Boy owners carry around an NIV translation of the Bible (complete with searching capabilities) in addition to twenty extra levels of the game “Joshua and the Battle of Jericho” that were not included in the original Game Boy release.Shop for NIV Bible and the Lost Levels of Joshua on eBayShop for NIV Bible and theLost Levels of Joshua on Amazon.com

Snow Bros Jr: $21 – $55
Rarity =
This Bubble Bobble clone was also listed on the Rarest and Most Valuable NES Games list, but in top condition, it can actually command a few more dollars than the console version and doens’t show up quite as much on eBay. However, this game seems to have actually gone down in value a bit over the last few years. Back in 2008, cartridges were seen going for $38 and complete copies for $90. Four years later, the values have been cut almost in half. The game is still just as hard to find, so now might be a good time to add this one to your collection while it is still relatively cheap.Shop for Snow Bros Jr on eBay

Gameboy Games With Sealed Premiums

Much like the NES games, there is quite a market for popular Gameboy games that are still in the factory plastic wrap. Here’s a sampling of the biggest prices of the last couple of months. I’ve linked to the actual auctions for the
prices listed. In most cases, an bare cart of the same games go for a small amount of cash.

266 Comments

You listed Contra: The Alien Wars as Conta under the Sealed Premiums section. Otherwise its a very nice list, though I was suprised Castlevania Legends made the list. It makes me happy that I have an original copy with box and manual.

Should the US version of Kid Dracula be put up here? There was an NES version as well as a Gameboy version released in Japan, but only the Gameboy version made it stateside. There’s usually quite a fervent bidding war when it’s put up on eBay, and a lone cartridge is usually more expensive than Megaman V. Good game, too!

If you’re patient on ebay, you can get some of these games for cheap. I got Mega Man V for 5 bucks and IV for 8. MMV was a buy it now for that price shipping included. Looking for people who don’t know what they have isn’t too tough with the classic gameboy.

“Mr Do! is typically regarded as the holy grail of licenced US releases in the Gameboy library and doesn’t show up on eBay too often. ”

this must be a typo, because while mr. do is quite uncommon, the rarest and most treasured licenced us release on the gameboy is actually Amaz’n tater. last year alone, only 3 (loose) copies showed up on ebay. digital press agrees too. look again.

i was implying that mr. do! is not the holy grail you claim it is. it might be #2 but, i’m confidant that amazing tater is considered the rarest. digitalpress’s rarity guide agrees with this. forgive my sarcasm, i appreciate and respect your guides. nothing personal against mr do, but he should be behind amaz’n tater.

I once bought a copy of Resi Gaiden for $4.99 at GameStop. Great game. Traded it in for $2 (not $30) at PlaynTrade to finance what would become my introduction into 32bit gaming, the era where my mind still sits, the PS1 (only a $13 purchase).

I once bought a copy of Resi Gaiden for $4.99 at GameStop. Great game. Traded it in for $2 (not $30) at PlaynTrade to finance what would become my introduction into 32bit gaming, the era where my mind still sits, the PS1 (only a $13 purchase). I also once saw MGS gameboy on sale for $8 and amazing tater for $3.99… what a great world

Hey Racket, I think it would be worthwhile to host snapshots of the ebay pages, or like host the one particular page, so that when you link to an ebay completed listing (for the sealed games) that it won’t expire after x number of days. I hope that makes sense.